hf1

Coop Mark I - finished page 5!

My avatar
autumnalgirl
Cloth Nappy Passionata
Cloth Nappy Passionata

Re: Chicken tractor / temporary coop.

Postby autumnalgirl » Mon Mar 12, 2018 9:32 pm

I think you'd get away with just one bar having looked at the dimensions of ours. Ours is 53 cm wide and we have two bars. Having said that some of them sleep in the nesting box and there is one that always sleeps on the floor :giggle: our chickens haven't read the book! Maybe two bars to be on the safe side! IF they don't use it you could always take it out.

My avatar
clothmama
Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
Site Admin

Re: Chicken tractor / temporary coop.

Postby clothmama » Mon Mar 12, 2018 9:53 pm

So total just over a metre of roosting space - how many chooks do you have? Silkies apparently often don't like roosting so sleep on the floor so not even sure I need to allow for them. Saying that a/ I'm not sure if I'll even try to integrate them or leave them in peace in their own coop / run after Clementine tried to attack them and b/ they seem happy to sleep on a roost - I have a short piece of 8x8cm wood that they are happily sleeping on every night (makes poop clean up so easy!)

My avatar
autumnalgirl
Cloth Nappy Passionata
Cloth Nappy Passionata

Re: Chicken tractor / temporary coop.

Postby autumnalgirl » Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:50 pm

We did have eight but one died this evening :sad: we've had her in the house for the last couple of days but couldn't save her.

With the intergration; the first time we went to do it we were all set up to have two coops and runs side by side so they could see each other but not get to the others. When we bought the new chickens the lady said wait until dark and then just pop the new ones in the coop and they'd be fine. Apparently the others would hardly notice. So we did and pretty much no issues! There's always a bossy hen, a big white Sussex in our case, she'll give out random pecks, but to all of them.

My avatar
clothmama
Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
Site Admin

Re: Chicken tractor / temporary coop.

Postby clothmama » Wed Mar 14, 2018 9:28 pm

massive couple of days working on the coop. Yesterday we sorted the walls, the floor, the hardwire etc. As of today we now have the floor in, waterproof membrane down, pop door in the floor, plan for where everything is going, ramp built. I posted on backyards chickens in a bit of a flap last night as I couldn't work out how to do the pop door in the floor and my ramp with my limited space. A gorgeous person (draftman retired I think!) did me a full plan based on my measurements which made today sooooo much less stressful and was an amazing gift to wake up to! My biggest issue it turns out is getting my ramp at a shallow enough angle so even though it doesn't look as good the ramp will be sitting on 2 breezeblocks so they can jump up then go onto the ramp. Here are some pics.

A big chicken!
Image
Image

The pop door:
Image
Image
The ramp - we stopped before actually getting it attached as it was too dark to carry on :giggle: you can see the breezeblocks in there so can imagine how much shallower it will be so I'm hopeful even the silkies should be able to get up and if we need to we can remove 1/3 of the top breezebock to make a step to get up if it is too high as it is for them to jump up.
Image Image

So tomorrow is roofing paper and then we can move it down there :yahoo: :yahoo:

My avatar
clothmama
Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
Site Admin

Re: Chicken tractor / temporary coop.

Postby clothmama » Thu Mar 29, 2018 5:29 pm

So frustrating as they are still sleeping in a TV as this flu has just knocked us over entirely and we haven't done anything for 2 weeks - such rotten timing! On the up side the weather seems to have turned :yahoo: and I'm feeling quite a bit better today so hoping J will be OK in a day or 2 as he got the flu after me! We are so close to finishing too!

My avatar
clothmama
Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
Site Admin

Re: Chicken tractor / temporary coop.

Postby clothmama » Fri Apr 13, 2018 1:41 pm

They finally moved in last night (only nearly 2 years from start to finish :hohoho: :hohoho: :hohoho: ) - totally different plan from what they started with but considering if I was starting again I'd not be doing an A frame thing I'm pretty pleased with the results and the chickens are too!

Image Image Image Image Image Image Image

My avatar
clothmama
Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
Site Admin

Re: Coop Mark I - finished page 5!

Postby clothmama » Fri Apr 13, 2018 1:54 pm

Still needs a few bits doing - handles on the outside so I can lift the side openings easier (those suckers are heavy!) and some support sticks to old them up so I can do stuff. I will also fix the roosting bar onto something so it is up a bit in the air (I'll do it as high as I can) and there will be nest boxes as well on the right hand side of the photo of the inside. I will put a hook inside underneath to hang their water and I have put one log but I'll probably put a nice branch for them to sit on on the diagonals underneath too just to give them a bit of interest. I'm just so thrilled they are in! And we cna chill out a bit on the chicken front until I have to start building the big / permanent coop which is going on the concrete slab so not quite sure how that will work out :giggle:

My avatar
clothmama
Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
Site Admin

Re: Chicken tractor / temporary coop.

Postby clothmama » Fri Apr 13, 2018 1:57 pm

autumnalgirl wrote:We did have eight but one died this evening :sad: we've had her in the house for the last couple of days but couldn't save her.

I said I was sorry about your chicken at the time on chat but reading back over this thread it makes it look like I didn't care - poor chooky and I did care (I think I'll be a mess the first one we loose!).

My avatar
autumnalgirl
Cloth Nappy Passionata
Cloth Nappy Passionata

Re: Chicken tractor / temporary coop.

Postby autumnalgirl » Fri Apr 13, 2018 5:46 pm

clothmama wrote:
autumnalgirl wrote:We did have eight but one died this evening :sad: we've had her in the house for the last couple of days but couldn't save her.

I said I was sorry about your chicken at the time on chat but reading back over this thread it makes it look like I didn't care - poor chooky and I did care (I think I'll be a mess the first one we loose!).


I know you did, it's fine! I was upset the first time too, and each time, but not like I was when the cat died. Not the same emotional attachment from me :oops:

Coop looks amazing! Lucky chickens!

PreviousNext

Return to The Chicken Coop